Thomas Hobbes Essay Topics & Paper Examples

Western Political Philosophy in the opinion of this essay is a concerted attempt to project and impose on a hapless people a foundation for immediate, continued domination and exploitation, we, therefore as a united Caribbean people, cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them. This paper identifies and discusses the central themes (thinking) of Gordon Lewis’ Main Currents in Caribbean Thought, Paget Henrys’ Calibans Reason, Rex Nettlefords’ “The Battle for Space” and Charles W. Mills’ Blackness Visible. This identification and discussion (generally) is achieved by tracing the evolution of Caribbean Political thought through an examination of race/class, explanations of underdevelopment, perspectives on dependency and the anti colonial movement inter alia. The paper goes on to explain (specifically)…

1. Compare and contrast Hobbes and Locke on political power? In answering this question explain Locke’s argument against Hobbes’s understanding of “paternal” and despotical power. On the discussion of power and social structure, both John Locke and Thomas Hobbes introduce their theories on paternal and despotical power in Second Treatise of Government and Leviathan respectively. Both men believe that social order is constructed artificially and not by a divine being. In Leviathan, Hobbes’s discusses the differences between paternal and despotical power. Even though he recognizes these differences he explains that power claimed by institution and power claimed by force incorporate the same rights and requirements of the contract. Contractual power is similar to parent over child in which there are…

“Everyone is governed by his own reason, and there is nothing he can make use of that may not be a help unto him in preserving his life against his enemies (Hobbes, 120). ” Thomas Hobbes, who is a considered a rational egoist, makes this point in his book Leviathan. Hobbes believes that the means of person’s actions can only be amounted to how it ultimately affects that person. Our moral duties that we perform in the end, all stem from self-interest, rather than being justified as morally right or wrong. Hobbes states that our desires pit us against one another, and the only way to protect our self-interests is to create a common power that protects the people who…

The nature of man is a subject that dates back centuries, though it is one that is still highly debated today. Philosophers, sociologists, and even sociobiologists have brought evidence leading to various conclusions to the table, so the question still stands. Mencius said that man’s nature is good, while Hsun Tzu argued from the opposite side. Centuries later, John Locke published a theory relating the nature of man to a blank piece of paper, stating that man is neutral until he learns otherwise, and goes even further to speak of man’s need for a “social contract” with a proper government. During this same time period, fellow Englishman Thomas Hobbes also stated man’s need for government and a social contract with…

1. What are the main branches of philosophy? Do philosophers have the same answers to the same philosophical questions? Why? Philosophy is a way of thinking about the big questions in life, from the existence of men to its morality. It is an activity which sharpens our reason. The word was coined by Greeks , meaning “the love of wisdom”. Philosophy can be divided into six big issues it is interested with. * First, the question about the nature of the world and the existence of Men which is under the domain of Metaphysics or also called Ontology. From the word “meta” which means beyond and “physics” which means physical it deals about beyond physical world- the spiritual. It also…

Thomas Hobbes’ conception of the natural state of man without the presence of a governing institution is primarily asocial; man is in constant war with other individuals, motivated by competition, self-preservation and reputation. These selfish desires remain present in man’s natural state that impedes the creation of a harmonious society. In Hobbes’ political treatise Leviathan, he mentions: “So that in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel; first, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory” (Hobbes 84). Every individual is motivated by personal gain without any just cause to give importance with other individuals other than oneself. Man’s natural state is in constant conflict and may be considered primitive since the chaotic context provides no absolute conception of…

The philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, especially that of his major work, Leviathan, is designed to understand the motives of human nature and, from these, seek the surest way to civil peace. This is one of the earliest examples of a “scientific” method of understanding political science in that the commonwealth was to be built on a handful of axioms, all deriving from what Hobbes considered facts of human nature (cf. Matthews, 118). The nature of these axioms leading to civil peace is the purpose of this present essay. The primary understanding of human nature that, if applied properly, would lead to social peace is that human beings desire power. This is nearly identical to Machiavelli’s approach to politics. It seems…

It is no coincidence that the first part of Thomas Hobbes’ The Leviathan begins with a discussion of the senses—his views on how the human faculties of sight, smell, taste, hearing and feeling form the basis of his theories on humanity and society. Hobbes presents a departure from most of the prevalent beliefs on perception during his time. Thomas Hobbes lived during the 16th to 17th Century, where most of Europe has already undergone the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a rebirth of the culture in Europe, primarily through the re-discovery of the Classical Greek and Roman traditions. Hence, most of the philosophical scholarship during that time centered on the works of the great Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Plato. Hobbes…